John Wesley Quotes

No outward practices will stand in the place of the new birth. Nothing under heaven will stand in its place. ~ John Wesley

He who governed the world before I was born shall take care of it likewise when I am dead. My part is to improve the present moment. ~ John Wesley

For as long as love takes up the whole heart, what room is there for sin therein? ~ John Wesley

I can by no means approve the scurrility and contempt with which the Romanists have often been treated. I dare not rail at, or despise, any man: much less those who profess to believe in the same Master. But I pity them much; having the same assurance, that Jesus is the Christ, and that no Romanist can expect to be saved, according to the terms of his covenant. ~ John Wesley

Reading Christians are growing Christians. When Christians cease to read, they cease to grow. ~ John Wesley

Fierce and poisonous animals were created for terrifying man, in order that he might be made aware of the final judgment in hell. ~ John Wesley

One of the great virtues of Christianity, according to (John)Wesley, is the way it fills up our every waking hour. Both (N.T.) Wright and Wesley write that Christianity is not just about what God does for us but what God does in us. ~ John Meunier

Before I can preach love, mercy, and grace, I must preach sin, Law, and judgment. Preach 90% Law and 10% grace. ~ John Wesley

If we cannot think alike, at least we may love alike; and can anything but love beget love? ~ John Wesley

Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God. ~ John Wesley

October 6, 1774
I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them
1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy
2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and
3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side. ~ John Wesley

Do not any longer contend for mastery, for power, money, or praise. Be content to be a private, insignificant person, known and loved by God and me ... of what importance is your character to mankind, if you was buried just now. Or if you had never lived, what loss would it be to the cause of God. ~ John Wesley

The best of all is God with us ~ John Wesley

Preach 90% Law and 10% grace. ~ John Wesley

"Ever since the religion of Islam appeared in the world, the espousers of it ... have been as wolves and tigers to all other nations, rending and tearing all that fell into their merciless paws, and grinding them with their iron teeth; that numberless cities are raised from the foundation, and only their name remaining; that many countries, which were once as the garden of God, are now a desolate wilderness; and that so many once numerous and powerful nations are vanished from the earth! Such was, and is at this day, the rage, the fury, the revenge, of these destroyers of human kind". ~ John Wesley

There is no love of God without patience, and no patience without lowliness and sweetness of spirit. ~ John Wesley

This insistence on a degree of faith in the communicant is also illustrative of Wesley's belief in the necessity for the co-operation of an active faith in man with the gift of God's grace to make the sacrament effective, which is congruent with his whole theology of salvation, with it's blending of the objective and the subjective. ~ John R. Parris

Faith is the divine evidence whereby the spiritual man discerneth God, and the things of God. ~ John Wesley

When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy and prosperous. Now, if that man when he gets all he can and saves all he can, does not give all he can, I have more hope for Judas Iscariot than for that man! ~ John Wesley

Wine, one of the noblest cordials in nature. ~ John Wesley

God will do nothing but in answer to prayer. ~ John Wesley

Oh that God would give me the thing which I long for! That before I go hence and am no more seen, I may see a people wholly devoted to God, crucified to the world, and the world crucified to them. A people truly given up to God in body, soul and substance! How cheerfully would I then say, 'Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' ~ John Wesley

The Church recruited people who had been starched and ironed before they were washed. ~ John Wesley

Beware, lastly, of imagining you shall obtain the end without using the means conducive to it. ~ John Wesley

Esau was an hunter - And a man that knew how to live by his wits, for he was a cunning hunter. A man of the field - All for the game, and never so well but as when he was in pursuit of it. And Jacob was a plain man - An honest man, that dealt fairly. And dwelt in tents - Either, As a shepherd, loving that safe and silent employment of keeping sheep, to which also he bred up his children, Gen 46:34. Or, As a student, he frequented the tents of Melchizedek or Heber, as some understand it, to be taught by them divine things. ~ John Wesley

Read the most useful books, and that regularly and constantly. ~ John Wesley

The case is this: God offers you one of the greatest mercies on this side of heaven and commands you to accept it. Why do you not accept this mercy in obedience to His command ... God offers you a pardon for all your sins. ~ John Wesley

How is it more for the glory of God to save man irresistibly, than to save him as a free agent, by such grace as he may either concur or resist? ~ John Wesley

Until my work on this earth is done, I am immortal. But when my work for Christ is done ... I go to be with Jesus ~ John Wesley

The decline of witch-belief was ... entirely the product of religious skepticism ... The Catholic Church did not reform itself on this matter; it was forced by outside pressure to reform. To be sure, the Protestant churches were no better in this regard; it is simply that they had less time - only two or three centuries - to engage in the torching of witches. After all, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, stated quite correctly that disbelief in witches meant a disbelief in the Bible. ~ S.T. Joshi

Prayer continues in the desire of the heart, though the understanding be employed on outward things. ~ John Wesley

In returning I read a very different book, published by an honest Quaker , on that execrable sum of all villanies, commonly called the Slave-trade. ~ John Wesley

In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church. ~ John Wesley

I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation. ~ John Wesley

[Christ] does not give [men] light but from moment to moment; the instant He withdraws, all is darkness ... God does not give them a stock of holiness. ~ John Wesley

I have never known more than fifteen minutes of anxiety or fear. Whenever I feel fearful emotions overtaking me, I just close my eyes and thank God that He is still on the throne reigning over everything and I take comfort in His control over the affairs of my life. ~ John Wesley

Justifying faith implies, not only a divine evidence or conviction that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, but a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins, that He loved me and gave Himself for me. ~ John Wesley

Is it not common to say to a child, 'Put your finger in that candle, can you bear it even for one minute?' How then will you bear Hell-fire? Surely it would be torment enough to have the flesh burnt off from only one finger; what then will it be to have the whole body plunged into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone? ~ John Wesley

My talent is to speak my mind. God won't object if you bury that talent. ~ John Wesley

Always remember the essence of Christian holiness is simplicity and purity: one design, one desire: entire devotion to God. ~ John Wesley

It was a common saying among the Christians in the primitive Church, "The soul and the body make a man; the spirit and discipline make a Christian;" implying, that none could be real Christians, without the help of Christian discipline. But if this be so, is it any wonder that we find so few Christians; for where is Christian discipline ~ John Wesley

People who wish to be offended will always find some occasion for taking offense. ~ John Wesley

For many ages it has been allowed by sensible men, Nihil est in intellectu quod non fuit prius in sensu: That is, There is nothing in the understanding which was not first perceived by some of the senses. All the knowledge which we naturally have is originally derived from our senses. And therefore those who want any sense cannot have the least knowledge or idea of the objects of that sense; as they that never had sight have not the least knowledge or conception of light or colours. ~ John Wesley

Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all Scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it. - JOHN WESLEY ~ Richard J. Foster

Anything that cools my love for Christ is the world. ~ John Wesley

The best helps to growth in grace are the ill usage, the affronts, and the losses which befall us. We should receive them with all thankfulness, as preferable to all others, were it only on this account, that our will has no part therein. ~ John Wesley

You have nothing to do but to save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work. ~ John Wesley

The Bible must be the invention of either good men or angels, bad men or devils, or of God. It could not be the invention of good men or angels, for they neither would or could make a book, and tell lies all the time they were writing it, saying, 'Thus saith the Lord,' when it was their own invention. It could not be the invention of bad men or devils, for they would not make a book which commands all duty, forbids all sin, and condemns their souls to hell for all eternity. Therefore, I draw this conclusion, that the Bible must be given by divine inspiration. ~ John Wesley

Money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find its way into my heart. ~ John Wesley

Whether we think of, or speak to, God, whether we act or suffer for him, all is prayer, when we have no other object than his love, and the desire of pleasing him. ~ John Wesley

Passion and prejudice govern the world; only under the name of reason. ~ John Wesley

I desired as many as could to join together in fasting and prayer, that God would restore the spirit of love and of a sound mind to the poor deluded rebels in America. ~ John Wesley

And now run the race which is set before thee, in the royal way of universal love. ~ John Wesley

I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field. ~ John Wesley

The integers of language are sentences, and their organs are the parts of speech. Linguistic organization, then, consists in the differentiation of the parts of speech and the integration of the sentence. ~ John Wesley Powell

But though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry, because I never undertake any more work than I can go through with perfect calmness of spirit. JOHN WESLEY ~ William Thrasher

If I had 300 men who feared nothing but God, hated nothing but sin, and were determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I would set the world on fire. ~ John Wesley

Catch on fire and people will come for miles to see you burn. ~ John Wesley

I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out. ~ John Wesley

I continue to dream and pray about a revival of holiness in our day that moves forth in mission and creates authentic community in which each person can be unleashed through the empowerment of the Spirit to fulfill God's creational intentions. ~ John Wesley

A sour religion is the devil's religion. ~ John Wesley

Think not the bigotry of another is any excuse for your own. ~ John Wesley

The man who never fasts is no more in the way to heaven than the man who never prays. ~ John Wesley

The best of it is, God is with us. ~ John Wesley

Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn. ~ John Wesley

Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God. ~ John Wesley

Every one, though born of God in an instant, yet undoubtedly grows by slow degrees. ~ John Wesley

At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation. ~ John Wesley

The wicked will gnaw their tongues for anguish and pain; they will curse God and look upwards. There the dogs of hell, pride, malice, revenge, rage, horror, despair, continually devout them. ~ John Wesley

The readiest way which God takes to draw a man to himself is, to afflict him in that he loves most, and with good reason; and to cause this affliction to arise from some good action done with a single eye; because nothing can more clearly show him the emptiness of what is most lovely and desirable in all the world. ~ John Wesley

Think and let think. ~ John Wesley

May we not say, that true zeal is not mostly charitable, but wholly so? That is, if we take charity in St. Paul's sense, for love; the love of God and our neighbour. For it is a certain truth, (although little understood in the world), that Christian zeal is all love. It is nothing else. ~ John Wesley

Thanksgiving is inseparable from true prayer; it is almost essentially connected with it. One who always prays is ever giving praise, whether in ease or pain, both for prosperity and for the greatest adversity. He blesses God for all things, looks on them as coming from Him, and receives them for His sake- not choosing nor refusing, liking or disliking,anything, but only as it is agreeable or disagreeable to His perfect will. ~ John Wesley

Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down. ~ John Wesley

Ought not a Minister to have, First, a good understanding, a clear apprehension, a sound judgment, and a capacity of reasoning with some closeness ... Is not some acquaintance with what has been termed the second part of logic, (metaphysics), if not so necessary as [logic itself], yet highly expedient? Should not a Minister be acquainted with at least the general grounds of natural philosophy? JOHN WESLEY, ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY ~ J.P. Moreland

To slay the sinner is then the first use of the Law, to destroy the life and strength wherein he trusts and convince him that he is dead while he lives; not only under the sentence of death, but actually dead to God, void of all spiritual life, dead in trespasses and sins. ~ John Wesley

As long as you feel your own weakness and helplessness, you will find help from above. ~ John Wesley

The elements that unite to make the Grand Canyon the most sublime spectacle in nature are multifarious and exceedingly diverse. ~ John Wesley Powell

All outward means of grace, if separate from the spirit of God, cannot profit, or conduce, in any degree, either to the knowledge or love of God. All outward things, unless he work in them and by them, are in vain. ~ John Wesley

A bullet to the front of the head demonstrates good marksmanship. A bullet to the back of the head demonstrates good judgement. ~ John Wesley Hardin

When Poetry thus keeps its place as the handmaiden of piety, it shall attain not a poor perishable wreath, but a crown that fadeth not away. ~ John Wesley

They say I killed six or seven men for snoring. Well, it ain't true. I only killed one man for snoring. ~ John Wesley

It cannot be that the people should grow in grace unless they give themselves to reading. A reading people will always be a knowing people. ~ John Wesley

I believe there is no liturgy in the world, either in ancient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, scriptural, rational piety, than the Common Prayer of the Church of England. And though the main of it was compiled considerably more than two hundred years ago, yet is the language of it, not only pure, but strong and elegant in the highest degree. ~ John Wesley

One great reason why the rich in general have so little sympathy for the poor is because they so seldom visit them. Hence it is that one part of the world does not know what the other suffers. Many of them do not know, because they do not care to know: they keep out of the way of knowing it – and then plead their voluntary ignorance as an excuse for their hardness of heart. ~ John Wesley

We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. ~ John Wesley Powell

I look upon the whole world as my parish. ~ John Wesley

If we suffer persecution and affliction in a right manner, we attain a larger measure of conformity to Christ, by a due improvement of one of these occasions, than we could have done merely by imitating his mercy, in abundance of good works. ~ John Wesley

Prayer is where the action is. ~ John Wesley

Men of learning began to set experiments aside ... to form theories ... and to substitute these in the place of experiments. ~ John Wesley

Untold millions are still untold. ~ John Wesley

My mother was the source from which I derived the guiding principles of my life. ~ John Wesley

Condemn no man for not thinking as you think. Let every one enjoy the full and free liberty of thinking for himself. Let every man use his own judgment, since every man must give an account of himself to God. Abhor every approach, in any kind or degree, to the spirit of persecution, if you cannot reason nor persuade a man into the truth, never attempt to force a man into it. If love will not compel him to come, leave him to God, the judge of all. ~ John Wesley

Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry. ~ John Wesley

Give me 100 preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God; such alone will shake the gates of hell. ~ John Wesley

We should be rigorous in judging ourselves and gracious in judging others. ~ John Wesley

Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences. ~ John Wesley

It is hardily credible of how great consequences before God the smallest things are; and what great inconveniences some times follow those which appear to be light faults. ~ John Wesley

The great preacher and founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley (1703-1791), was once approached by a man who came to him in the grip of unbelief. "All is dark; my thoughts are lost," the man said to Wesley, "but I hear that you preach to a great number of people every night and morning. Pray, what would you do with them? Whither would you lead them? What religion do you preach? What is it good for?" Wesley gave this answer to those questions:

You ask, what would I do with them? I would make them virtuous and happy, easy in themselves, and useful to others. Whither would I lead them? To heaven, to God the judge, the lover of all, and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant. What religion do I preach? The religion of love. The law of kindness brought to light by the gospel. What is this good for? To make all who receive it enjoy God and themselves, to make them like God, lovers of all, contented in their lives, and crying out at their death, in calm assurance, "O grave where is thy victory! Thanks be to God, who giveth me victory, through my Lord Jesus Christ. ~ John Wesley

Get on fire for God and men will come and see you burn. ~ John Wesley